Aichi cops believe Gifu man in custody murdered missing woman

Aichi police are questioning a man from Gifu Prefecture in the disappearance of a 53-year-old woman in June (TBS News)

AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police suspect that a 20-year-old man currently undergoing questioning over the disappearance of a woman last month killed her, reports the Chunichi Shimbun (July 31).

At 6:15 a.m on Sunday, cameras captured the man, a resident of Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture, in the presence of police with a coat pulled over his head.

The man is being questioned in the disappearance of a 53-year-old resident of a Nagoya’s Nishi Ward who went missing following a seminar about selling food products over the internet, held on June 18 in Kasugai City, Aichi.

According to police, the woman told persons following the seminar that she was going to meet an acquaintance. That night, she was seen boarding a vehicle driven by the man at JR Ogaki Station. She has not been heard from since.

Woman’s smartphone

On Sunday, police found the woman’s smartphone and bag during a search of the vehicle and residence of the man, according to TBS News (July 30).

On the day the woman disappeared, the man is known to have called an acquaintance in Shiga Prefecture. Police are also questioning that person.

Police believe that the man and the woman became acquainted through business. It is expected that he will be arrested for murder, police said.